DC Comics Icons Darkseid and Grail from The Darkseid War

DC Comics Icons Darkseid and Grail from The Darkseid War
It is difficult for me to describe in words how excited I have been to get my hands on this titanic DC Icons figure set. Darkseid and Grail were shown off at Toy Fair 2016 and it was love at first sight. Almost skeptical love. Getting something this size to market, the process tends to stumble, delays, etc… Getting several looks along the way though, I get the sense that DC Collectibles had no trouble getting this figure done, in a box, and out to stores. Both figures in said box look absolutely fantastic, feel amazing, and they are absolutely worth a top spot on your holiday want list!

Darkseid

The Good

The detail packed into this figure is astonishing. Granted, I’m used to looking for detail at 3.75 and 6 inches, getting to design a figure like this is probably almost like cheating!

Darkseid moves like a monster, with a satisfying lock feel in his joints as they move into position.

Articulation for this figure is staggering, again, especially for his size. Darkseid has torso articulation, shoulder, elbow is double jointed, wrist spins and raises / lowers, the ankle articulation here is second to none, double jointed knees, ball hips with thigh cut should make everyone happy!

Darkseid has articulated, ARTICULATED! Shoulder guards! They move well and intentionally to match the position of his arms.

Alternate set of hands included allows for Darkseid to get his “hold stuff” on.

For further “The Good”, please, study the gallery, my words are falling short of just how beautiful this figure is. I don’t know that I’ve ever said that, but it’s true here for certain.

The Bad

Head movement is limited due to space available for movement. There is no waits spin.

A few nicks in an amazing paint job are unfortunately noticeable (QC issue, not design).

Hand grasp articulation vs alternate hands would have been really cool to see here.

Grail

The Good

Grail is stunningly designed and another comic perfect DC Icons replication.

Skipping ahead here, but her head articulation…she can look up better than any other Icons figure that I have held before her and that is a massive welcome plus for Icons collectors and should give great hope going forward.

Grail’s included sash fits perfectly while still allowing a reasonable amount of movement.

Her included weapon fits perfectly in her hand and holds well.

The contrast between amazing sculpted hair and the shaved side of her head is absolutely worth looking at.

The Bad

Not a knock on the figure at all, but when you put a figure like Grail in a package with Darkseid, while thematically and value proposition wise, it’s a massive win, it’s going to detract attention away from her, attention that she absolutely deserves. This is a fantastic figure and well above and beyond an “add in”.

The rest

Rounding out 2016 with a monster sized figure couldn’t have put an exclamation point on the year any better for DC Icons. What comes in the box is a mega value proposition, a monster Darkseid and a beautiful Grail, Beauty and the Beast if you will, at a very good (generally sub $100 pre-tax) price point. Plenty of worthwhile accessories between the two figures make them shine and bring them that much closer to jumping right off of Darkseid War comic pages. This, to date, is my favorite Darkseid and in action figure treatments, there have been plenty. Head to toe here though, the re-creation of this icon is brilliant with no stone left unturned. Darkseid and Grail is an absolute must have set for any fan of DC comics. If you haven’t pre-ordered, there are still quite a few options for that, but I digress, you can read the availability section for that. We are still in the rest section, and what else is the rest…well, unfortunately, with 2 weeks left of 2016, the DC Collectibles Icons machine has rolled it’s last new figures off the line. Now, we wait. 2017 has a ton of promise though, Nightwing, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Swamp Thing, a brand spankin new Rebirth 7 pack. DC Collectibles is trying to make figure fans want for nothing as quickly as possible and the quality is top notch. Stay tuned for more, and keep a look out for our top DC Icons figures of 2017…because it’s going to go live very soon after this!